Electric heater and circuit-controller therefor.



No. 664,37I. Patented Dec. 25, I900. J. I. AYER.

ELECTRIC HEATER AND CIRCUIT CONTROLLER THEREFOR.

(Application filed m 20, 1899.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES I. AYER, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE SIMPLEXELECTRICAL COMPANY, OF

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS;

ELECTRIC HEATER AND CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,371, dated December25, 1900.

Application filed May 20, 1899.

To all whmn it Wta/y concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES I. AYER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Malden, county of Middlesex, and State ofMassachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectric Heaters and Circuit-Controllers Therefor, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a circuit-controller forelectric heaters which shall without conscious effort or thought on thepart of the user prevent the wasteful use of electric current and secureimmediate results whenever the heating apparatus is desired for use.

This circuit-controlling device' may be applied to any electrical heaterwhich is adapted to heat an object placed in or upon it. For convenienceone of the small electric heaters adapted to heat a curling-iron isshown in the adjoining figures, wherein- Figure 1 is a longitudinalsection of the heater and its switch controller. Fig. 2 is an end viewthereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional end view of the heater, showing itsswitch-controlling gate depressed.

The heater-casing is shown at A, which contains the heating-coil a andits protecting-in sulator at. The ends I) b of the heater-casing 0 aresupported upon legs 1) 19 The leadingin wires e have their electricalcontinuity broken at the binding-posts p, to which are attachedcontact-springs d, which are themselves electricallyseparated. Theswitch-controller is here shown as a lever L, pivoted at o and normallyurged upward by a spring 3. This lever L constitutes the circuit-closercarrier. The circuit-closer itself is shown as a pin g, attached to ablock or plate g, which is in turn secured to the under side of theleverL. The leverLterminates in or is jointed to a plate l. The entireapparatus is suitably mounted upon a base B.

The gate joined to the lever L is so proportioned and situated that whenthe lever L is urged to its normal position by the spring 8 the aperture5 through which an object must be passed in order to be introduced intothe oven-like interior of the heater-chamber, is

wholly or partially closed by the gate. This is the normal open-circuitposition of the Serial No. 717,585. No model.)

lever L, the circuit-closer 9 being shown, as

in Fig. 1, raised from between the contactsprings d. If now it isdesired to insert an object into the chamber of the heater to be heated,it is necessary to open the gate Z,Which bars the oven-opening b Thenwhen an ob ject to be heated-as, for instance, a curlingiron-is insertedthrough the opening I in the gate Z, Fig. 1, it retains the gate andcircuit closing connections in the position of circuitclosure. Thisgate, which cooperates with the object to be inserted into the heater,consists of an upright plate Z, passing through slots a a a a in theheater and its casing. The gate Z is shown in Fig. 3 in its open ordepressed position, which corresponds to the dotted-line position shownin Fig. 1. The end Z of this plate, Fig. 1, is bent to form a surface orhandle to assist in depressing the lever by hand.

Z is an aperture in the plate, through which the object to be heated isinserted when the lever is depressed.

In the apparatus shown the insertion of the object to be heated eitheritself actuates the circuit-closing devices or those devices must befirst actuated before free passage to the in terior of the heater isalforded. The withdrawal of the heated object releases the cir- 8ocuit-controlling devices, which return automatically to position of opencircuit.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electric heating device, a heatingchamber with an openingtherein for the reception of an article to be heated, a gate located atthe opening and adapted to close the same, a heating-circuit, a switchcontrolling the circuit, said switch connected with the gate, and meanswhereby the switch and its connected gate are normally held in aposition of open circuit, the said gate being so disposed with respectto the opening in the heating-chamber that it must be displacedtherefrom to permit the introduction of an article to be heated, suchdisplacement moving the gate and switch-arm to position ofcircuitclosure.

2. In an electric heating device, a heating- 10o chamber having anopening therein, a support therefor, heating-resistances disposed aboutthe sides of the chamber, a switch controlling the gate and leverattached are moved to a circuit-closure of the resistances, asWitch-leposition of circuit-closure, substantially as dever pivoted tothe chamber-support, carrying scribed. a circuit-closing blade, a springattached to Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, 5 the switch-leverand normally urging the same this 11th day of May, 1899.

to a position of open circuit, slots in the chamher-walls, a gatepassing through said slots and attached to the lever, an opening in theWitnesses: gate so located that the opening in the gate E. F. GROLL,

10 and the openingin thechambercoincidewhen S. G. 0. SWANSON.

JAS. I. AYER.

